


My friend you've been looking so angry

by trubenblack



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Aaron is a stressed man but we love him anyways, Anger, Bonding, Crying, Maths is the worst tbh, Neil is a good helper and is doing his best, Neilmas2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 00:24:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17477798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trubenblack/pseuds/trubenblack
Summary: Neil’s relationship with Aaron could be described as rocky at best, but walking in on hims crying was not something he had ever expectedorAaron and Neil bonding!!





	My friend you've been looking so angry

Neil’s relationship with Aaron could be described as rocky at best, they kept their arguing to a minimum unless on court, otherwise it was glares from Aaron when Neil did anything even slightly romantic toward Andrew and just genuine annoyance and dislike for no good reason on Neil’s side – well, almost no good reason, Neil had still not forgotten the _cabin incident_ as he referred to it inside his head. He originally thought that Aaron was selfish and annoying and rude, he wasn’t worth Neil’s time because he wasn’t Andrew and he wasn’t putting in the effort or caring like Matt or the other foxes did, so why would Neil put the effort into him?

 

Walking in on him crying was never something he expected however.

 

He was running late for practice with Kevin, he’d sent Andrew ahead of him to make sure Kevin didn’t somehow re-break his hand by over practicing, he’d just made it up the lift and was heading to his dorm when he heard a crash from Aaron, Matt and Jack’s room. He would have ignored it but he honestly thought Jack and Aaron were fighting again and it wasn’t acceptable, he was getting sick of both of their shit.

 

He made his way over to their room, luckily Matt never locked the door so he walked in, ready to break up the fight, but instead he found Aaron standing next to a pile of papers strewn everywhere. There was a dent in the wall from a chair that had clearly been thrown. Aaron’s face was red, tears were streaming down which he was angrily wiping away.

 

“What-“ Neil started, not quite computing what was going on.

 

Aaron startled, turning to Neil in shock before realizing whom his visitor was. His eyes narrowed and he angrily wiped at his face again, trying to hide the incriminating evidence that he felt anything.

 

“Fuck off Josten.” It was probably meant to come out angrily, but his voice cracked half way through. Wobbling like he couldn’t quite bring himself to really be angry.

 

“No what’s – what’s going on Aaron?”

 

“I said fuck off!” His voice was stronger this time. “It’s not like you care anyways and it doesn’t matter to you, go away.”

 

“No I’m your captain, if something’s going on I need to know.” As much as he disliked Aaron, if Katelyn was hurting him Neil had to sort it out now, If Andrew found out she’d hurt him he’d kill her and Neil wasn’t going to let that happen. “Is it Katelyn?” This got Aaron to turn toward him completely.

 

“No! It’s not Katelyn what the fuck? I just failed a fucking exam it’s nothing Josten just… go away.” His shoulders sagged in defeat as he went and sat down and put his head in his hands.

 

Neil should have left, it really wasn’t his business, they weren’t friends and Aaron was an asshole, but… Neil had only ever seen the look on Aarons face on his own face when he looked in the mirror. It was despair and self hatred, not a pretty combination. So he did something that surprised both him and Aaron, he went over and looked at the papers.

 

“Oh! I did this course last semester, abstract algebra right?” Neil had found the course difficult but not impossible. Aaron groaned into his hands.

 

“Why the fuck does algebra have to be abstract, it’s math for fucks sake, it’s a subject that’s meant to _not_ be abstract.”

 

“It’s about making up new number systems with arbitrary symbols that follow the rules of math Aaron, how can you not think that’s cool?” Neil couldn’t help himself, he found this stuff fascinating, Aaron however seemed to be on a different page, shooting him a glare.

 

“Who the fuck decided that imaginary numbers were a thing? Numbers are _numbers_ they’re fucking numbers, they can’t be imaginary.”

 

“Well if they didn’t have imaginary numbers there would be no way of doing science or a lot of things mathematicians do.”

 

“Fuck off Josten, if you’re so smart why don’t _you_ do the fucking exam for me.” Aaron said it without really thinking, he sounded resigned and tired. Either unfortunately or luckily for him, that gave Neil an idea.

 

“I can’t do the exam for you but I could… teach you?” He winced at how much that sounded like a question, he was used to talking to Aaron confidently if not slightly aggressively. Aaron too seemed to be taken aback by it, his head snapped up and he looked up at Neil. He opened and closed his mouth for a few seconds, about twenty different emotions crossing his face. Before settling on something that looked like he’d swallowed something sour.

 

“If you’re pissing with me I’d rather you just fucked off, I’m not in the mood.”

 

“No! I’m not fucking pissing with you, you dumb git, I'm offering help but I guess I’ll just leave then.” Neil turned to head out.

 

“Wait.”

 

Neil paused; he hadn’t really been expecting Aaron to change his mind. He turned to face him, taking a few steps back into the room. 

 

“If I say yes, how would this work?”

 

“Well first off I’d text Andrew and tell him I can’t make practice I have to study, then he’ll call me not trusting me and I’ll just say I'm really tired and to tell Kevin I’m failing something, then he’ll agree by hanging up without saying anything. While I’m doing that you can pick up your papers and we’ll start from there.” Neil was just stating facts but Aaron was looking at him in awe.

 

“You can’t possibly know that’s what Andrew is going to do.”

 

“Watch me.” Neil pulled out his phone and sent a text to Andrew, within five seconds of it sending he received a call.

 

“Have you been kidnapped again?” Andrew’s voice was flat but it was clear he was concerned.

 

“Not kidnapped this time,” Neil said, Aaron snorted from across the room, Neil glared at him before continuing, “I’m just so fucking exhausted I can’t deal with Kevin today, can you just tell him I’m studying and practice with him for a bit?”

 

Andrew grunted and hung up the phone, that sorted Neil turned back to Aaron and gave him a _well?_ Look. Aaron looked at him in awe before scrambling up to get his papers. Neil sat on the couch and waited for him. Aaron lay out the papers looking more and more disgusted at each one.

 

“Okay, where do you want to start?”

 

They worked together for almost two hours, Aaron starting off looking completely lost and then slowly beginning to understand; by the end he had a basic grip on it so he wasn’t completely in the dark. At that point, Jack burst into the room, scowling as soon as he saw the two men.

 

“What, one Monster wasn’t enough for you Josten?”

 

“Fuck off Jack,” Neil said, trying to keep his temper under control, Aaron was already rising to take a swing but Neil grabbed his arm. “Leave him Aaron, he just wants attention because his Daddy never gave him any.” Aaron looked down at him, seeing his annoyance matched in Neil’s eyes he slowly sat down. Jack however, was not as easy to deal with and came lumbering into the room.

 

“Shut the fuck up you stupid fag, you’re useless at everything, you probably only got captain by sleeping your way to it.”

 

That comment was too much for Neil, he stood up getting ready to fight, but a fist beat his to Jack’s face. Jack went down hard and Aaron was standing above him panting. Jack cursed and went to roll over and Aaron kicked him again.  
  


“Aaron… leave it,” Neil grit out, really wishing he could tell him to keep going. “We need him on the team.”

 

Aaron snorted at that and rolled his eyes before making his way over to pack up his papers. Neil started to walk out, making sure to stand on Jack’s hand with enough pressure not to break it but to hurt it. Over Jack’s cursing he heard Aaron call out.

 

“Hey Neil?” He turned around again.

 

“What?” He had to get back to Andrew now, he would be back really soon and if Neil wasn’t in their room he’d tear up the world looking for him.

 

“Thanks.” The word looked like it physically pained Aaron, but he got it out. Neil nodded at him before leaving and closing the door behind him. Maybe they wouldn’t have a perfect relationship, but maybe, just _maybe,_ Aaron wasn’t as bad as he’d previously thought.

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to Aaron @Paleromantic for teaching me about maths a few months ago (you nerd) so i knew somewhat college level math terms.
> 
> (Aaron comments on these subjects are just about exact quotes of my rant about it lmfao)


End file.
